Subcomandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista movement, held the first in a series of public meetings with indigenous peoples and political activists in San Cristobal de las Casas on January 2 as part of his pledge to "listen to everybody," the Associated Press reports. Marcos will continue to hold meetings around the country over the next six months in an effort to form a new leftist political movement that will "turn Mexico on its head." According to the AP, Marcos’ tour is timed to coincide with the 2006 presidential election. President Vicente Fox also began a week-long tour of Mexico’s indigenous communities on the same day, allegedly to compete with Marcos. Relations between the Zapatistas and the government of Mexico have long been a source of conflict. Shortly after his election in December 2000, Fox closed some military bases near Zapatista territory and freed jailed rebel sympathizers. However, Congress heavily diluted a Zapatista-backed constitutional amendment for Indian rights in 2001, which has stalled peace efforts between the two groups.
